Linspire Inc. on June 14 will announce an agreement to license VoIP, Windows Media, and TrueType font technology from Microsoft for use in its Linux distribution. Additionally, the deal includes protection for Linspire customers against possible violations of Microsoft patents by Linux, and other cooperative measures.

So, Linspire folks, how much did Microsoft pay you to join the ‘protection racket’ club? A Linspire tag has been added to the site and Shane might register an aptly-named domain. Lindows has just joined hands with Windows.

Addendum (20/06/2007):

It is worth adding Groklaw’s find from last night.

Linspire Admits No Patents Licensed to MS

“This is the same conceptual structure of a patent covenant for end users as found in the Novell and Xandros deals, and the design principle is respect for all of the licenses that are at play, including the GPL [GNU General Public License],” Kaefer said. “These patent covenants are foundational elements that allow us all to move forward.”.

However, Linspire did not provide any of its patent rights to Microsoft under the deal, given that it held very few such rights, he said, noting that Microsoft would happily talk to the company about such a license if that situation changes.
[PJ: Of course the GPL remark is poppycock. Respect for the GPL is certainly not a noticeable component of any of these deals, except perhaps by its absence.] – Peter Galli, Devsource

Red Hat and Ubuntu will never bend Microsoft’s way (because they said so). Speaking of other vendors, my hard drive is having physical errors (started a couple of hours ago), so I will need to buy a new one tomorrow and reinstall Linux (haven’t decided which distro I’ll go for yet, but there are 3 I will definitely avoid). Either way, I probably won’t be active in this site for a few days. Need to rebuild…

I talked with Illuminata’s Gordon Haff about this yesterday for our site, and he said pretty much the same thing. I realize that there’s a few posts out there today saying that MS is snatching up all these little guys as some kind of maneuver meant to outflank Red Hat, but from my own reporting and research that’s sounding like a huge stretch right now. Like an astronomical unit kind of stretch. Times ten.

I am flattered to see you commenting here, having followed your excellent writings for a long, long time. In almost a thousand posts which the site has accumulated, I hope it has been shown that Microsoft has much greater (and broader) plans, which extend beyond pressuring Red Hat. The EU’s wrath, document formats, IP scare, and even search engines (yes, it turns out that Linspire will also assist MSN, all at Google’s expense) are just some among the many benefits to Microsoft.

On a side note (as before), I have completed my setup of Ubuntu Linux. I use 7.04 now, having used 5.10 and 4.10 in the past. I installed them on two other PCs of mine, which later had SuSE (the pre-Novell era) and Mandriva. Ubuntu Feisty Fawn has been a pleasure that I cannot begin to describe. Writing a review at this stage would be pointless because it has been done thousands of times before. With a 4000-pixel-wide dual-head display, I am prepared to work more efficiently than ever before. In retrospect, the hard drive crash was a blessing. The new one hardware is better.

Staff of the EPO is given yet more reasons to protest tomorrow at the British Consulate, for the so-called 'President' of the EPO reminds everyone of the very raison d'être for the protest -- a vain disregard for the rule of law

The European Patent Office (EPO) President, Benoît Battistelli, reportedly started threatening -- as before -- staff that decides to exercise the right to assemble and protest against abuses, including the abuses of President Battistelli himself

A protest in Munich in less than 6 days will target Mr. Sean Dennehey, who has helped Battistelli cover up his abuses and crush legitimate critics, whom he deemed illegal opposition as if the EPO is an authoritarian regime as opposed to a public service which taxpayers are reluctantly (but forcibly) funding